8 Tips for Writing Suspense
by Alfred Hitchcock biographer and novelist
Tony Lee Moral
Having written four books on Sir Alfred Hitchcock, and three mystery and suspense novels, two of which are published this month “The Two Masks of Vendetta” and its sequel “The Passion of the Cross”, I rely on the Master of Suspense’s tips for writing a compelling and gripping story.
1. Know The Difference Between Mystery and Suspense
Hitchcock often outlined the difference between mystery and suspense. Mystery is an intellectual process, like a ‘who dunnit’. In my novel “The Two Masks of Vendetta”, the mystery is who killed Miles Kingston? But suspense is an emotional process that involves the audience or reader. Hitchcock knew that the number one rule of suspense is to give your reader information. You can’t expect a reader to have anxieties if they have nothing to be anxious about. If you tell the audience that there is a bomb in the room and that it’s going to go off in five minutes, that’s suspense. “We’re sitting here talking,” said Hitchcock in an interview. “And we don’t know there’s a bomb hidden inside your tape recorder. The public doesn’t know either, and suddenly the bomb explodes. We’re blown to bits. Surprise, but how long does it last, the surprise and horror? Five seconds no more.” The secret Hitchcock maintained, was to let the audience in on the secret, the ticking bomb. In that way, instead of five seconds of surprise, you’ve created five minutes of suspense.
2. Writing Suspense in Novels
In the same way, I sometimes gave more information to the audience than the central characters to keep the suspense going in my novels. For example, when Catriona first goes to Belvedere, the Kingston family home, unbeknown to her she is being watched by the sinister valet Ward. I paid particular attention so that the reader will be invested in Catriona’s predicament from the start. They’d ask questions such what will happen when Miles’ family find out that she’s not really Mrs. Kingston? Will Detective Radcliffe catch Catriona? Will Mario go to jail? All of these questions arise from a single problem that Catriona is pretending to be someone she is not. The suspense in the sequel “The Passion of the Cross” is will the heroine Catriona uncover the murderer before she becomes the next target and clear Mario’s name? The suspense drives the narrative and keeps the reader interested.
3. Hitchcockian Character Types
Catriona is the novel’s central character and resembles the duplicitous blondes of Hitchcock’s films from Anny Ondra in Blackmail to Kim Novak in Vertigo. The wrongfully accused man was also a subject Hitchcock repeatedly returned throughout his career from The 39 Steps to Frenzy, and is reflected in Catriona’s boyfriend Mario. And the serial killer or psychopath has long fascinated Hitchcock ever since The Lodger through to Psycho, he becomes my novel's chief villain.
4. Find Your MacGuffin - The MacGuffin is the red herring or engine of the story, the object around which the plot revolves and motivates the actions of the characters. In Notorious, the MacGuffin is the uranium ore inside the wine bottles, and in North by Northwest, it is the statue that holds the secret microfilm. In “The Two Masks of Vendetta” the MacGuffin is the stolen artwork that drives the story, and in “The Passion of the Cross” it’s the True Cross of Jesus Christ which the characters are searching for.
5. Use your locations wisely - Locations are very important in Hitchcock’s films, not only for locale but to drive the plot. Hitchcock loved public and everyday places where chaos can erupt at any moment. Similarly, I set my novel in New York’s trendiest restaurants, hotel lobbies, theatres, art galleries and ball rooms. I place Catriona in theatrical situations, like the Whitney Gallery, the Metropolitan Opera House, and other Hitchcockian motifs such as wine cellars and spiralling staircases. When the second novel moves to Italy, the open piazzas, bell towers, opera houses and churches become scenes of murder. The sudden switches of location in a book are also very important to keep the reader alert. Hitchcock knew that one of the ways in which suspense drama must change is in its setting. As well as locations, Hitchcock believed in using props dramatically. In “The Two Masks of Vendetta”, I literally borrowed the dressmaker’s scissors from Dial M for Murder, for one of the killings in my book, which is fitting since Catriona is very much involved in costume and high fashion.
7. Balance Suspense with Humour - “Suspense doesn’t have any value unless it’s balanced by humour,” said Hitchcock, who was famous for his macabre sense of humour in films like The Trouble With Harry. In Frenzy, Hitchcock liked the extremes between comedy and horror and used humour to great effect between the Chief Inspector and his wife. "I invented the Chief Inspector’s wife so as to permit myself to place most of the discussion of the crime outside a professional context," said Hitchcock. “And I get comedy to sugar-coat the discussions by making the wife a gourmet cook. So, this inspector comes home every night to the discussion of the murders over very rich meals.” Comedy can make your writing more dramatic and give your reader a chance to reflect on the suspense.
8. Start Your Story with a Bang - A good crime story should start with an earthquake and be followed by rising tension. Some of Hitchcock’s best stories start with a bang, such as the strangulation murder at the beginning of Rope or the abduction of George Kaplan and mistaken identity in North by Northwest. I start “The Passion of the Cross” with a murder at the opera when everyone becomes a prime suspect.
About the Author
Tony Lee Moral is the author of four non-fiction books about Alfred Hitchcock, including “The Young Alfred Hitchcock’s Movie Making Master Class”.
The Two Masks of Vendetta can be ordered via Amazon.
https://www.amazon.com/Two-Masks-Vendetta-TONY-MORAL/dp/1838211586/
The Passion of The Cross can be ordered via Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Passion-Cross-Tony-Lee-Moral/dp/1835740499/